Unless you had an expert knowledge of the locality, you would not reach the offices of The Banner.”
-- Narrative (Chapter One)

Importance: These are the first words of the novel. Through mentions of “expert knowledge” and “locality,” the sentence suggests to the reader that there is a distance between their understanding of Malgudi and the reality of living in Malgudi. This sentence also gives the narrative its authority, by suggesting that only it can have an “expert knowledge of the locality.”

Who am I? This is a far more serious problem than any I have ever known before… Till I know who I am, how can I know what I should do?”
-- Srinivas (Chapter One)

Importance: This question, which Srinivas asks himself in the first chapter, is the driving question for Srinivas throughout the rest of the novel. The ordering of Srinivas’s thoughts here—he must know who he is before knowing what profession to undertake—also...